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العواصم القواصم
أبو بكر بن العربي
Death: 543H 1148
DEFENCE AGAINST DISASTER by QADI ABU BAKR IBN AL-`ARABI
Accurately Determining The Position Of The Companions After The Death Of The Prophet, May Allah Bless Him And Grant Him Peace AL-`AWASIM MIN AL-QAWASIM
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That is the truth.
The Kharijites, in spite of their misguidance and twisting, were not known to lie like the Rafidites who did not recognise sound hadith and who fabricated false hadith which they ascribed to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They also interpreted the ayats of the Noble Qur`an according to their passions. In the ‘Sahih’ of Muslim (book 12, hadith 150, pt. 3, p. 113) from the hadith of Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, "An arrow will penetrate a group of the muslims. They will be killed by the group closest to the truth." He had it clear that each group was connected to the truth. However, the party of `Ali was closer to it.
245. The people of the Muhammadan Sunna owe it to Allah to believe that `Ali and Mu`awiya and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who were with them, were all people of the truth. They were sincere in that. Their disagreement was based on ijtihad just as mujtahids can disagree in any subject open to dispute. They are rewarded for being right and being wrong because of their sincerity in their ijtihad. The reward of the one who is right is many times greater than the reward of the one who is wrong. Apart from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, no human being is protected from error. Some of them err in some things and are right in others. It is like that with other people. Whoever renounced the truth by provoking the first sedition against `Uthman is not considered to be one of the two parties who had the truth, even if he fought with them and attached himself to them because those who stained their hands, intentions and hearts with the unjust attack on the Amir al-Mu’minin `Uthman, whoever they were, deserved to have the Islamic hadd carried out on them. In the situation here, no one was able to do that, and their presence inflamed the fighting between the rightacting muslims.
Whenever these men sensed the muslims’ resolve for peace and brotherhood, as they did in the Battle of the Camel, they decided to persist in criminality as long as they could. When we say that both parties were among the people of the truth, we mean the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who were with the two parties and those Tabi`un who went with them, and who were based on the sunna of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. We think that `Ali, who was promised the Garden, had a higher station with Allah than Mu`awiya, the uncle of the believers and the Companion of the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds. Both of them were people of excellence. When the parties of the people of evil infiltrated them, the one who did an atom’s weight of good will see it and the one who did an atom’s weight of evil will see it. Ibn Kathir said in ‘The Beginning and the End’ (7:277) that `Abdu’r-Rahman b. Ziyad b. An`am ash-Sha`bani, the Qadi of North Africa (d. in 156), who was a man of right action and one of those who commanded the correct, said when he mentioned the people of Siffin, "There were Arabs who knew each other in the Jahiliyya. They met in Islam with zeal and the sunna of Islam. They counselled each other to be steadfast and they were ashamed to flee.
They brought out their dead and buried them." Ash-Sha`bi said, "They are the people of the Garden. They met each other and none of them fled from the other. Allah ta’ala said, "If two groups of the believers fight, make peace between them. Then if one of them is insolent against the other, then fight the insolent one until they come back to the command of Allah. If they come back, then make peace between them with justice and be fair. Allah loves the just." (49:9) He did not bring them out of "belief" by insolence through any interpretation nor did He strip the name "brothers" from them since He said after it, "The believers are brothers, so make peace between your brothers." (49:10) He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said about `Ammar, "An attacking party will kill him."
246. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that when they were building the mosque and people were moving one brick at a time while `Ammar was moving two bricks at a time. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke these words about him, according to what Abu Sa`id al-Khudri related by `Ikrima, the client of Ibn `Abbas and `Ali b. `Abdullah b. `Abbas. It is in ‘The Book of Jihad and Biography’ from the ‘Sahih’ of al-Bukhari (book 56, chap. 17, pt. 3, p. 207). Mu`awiya knew that he himself would not attack in the war of Siffin because he did not bring it or start it. He only came to it after `Ali had left Kufa and camped his army in an-Nukhayla in order to go to Syria as was already stated. That is when `Ammar was killed. Mu`awiya said, "The one who brought him out killed him." The wrong action for all the muslims who were killed at the hands of the muslims since the time of `Uthman’s murder, rests on `Uthman’s murderers because they opened the door of sedition and because they stirred up anger in the breasts of the muslims against each other. As they were the murderers of `Uthman, so they killed all those who were killed afterwards.
Those men included `Ammar and those who were better than `Ammar - like Talha and az-Zubayr, until the sedition came to the point where they murdered ‘Ali himself. They were part of his army and were in the group on which he was based. The hadith is one of the signs of prophecy. The two groups fighting in Siffin were all Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and were the pillars of the `Umma of Islam. The wrong action for all that took place in the seditions rests upon the attacking group, for whose sake every person killed, in the Battle of the Camel and the Battle of Siffin and what branched out from that, was killed.
He said about al-Hasan, "This son of mine is a master. Perhaps Allah will use him to make peace between two great parties of muslims." He recommended to him that he remove himself and make peace.
247. This will be discussed in the discussion on the peace between al-Hasan and Mu`awiya. Similarly, it is related that the Prophet gave `Uthman permission in the dream to submit and break the fast with him that night.
248. The discussion was already given.
All of these are the things which happened because of the conflict. They are not the result of any method of fiqh nor are they considered to be part of the path of ijtihad in which the one who is right is rewarded ten times and the one who errs once.
249. Ibn Taymiyya said in ‘The Path of the Sunna’ (2:219-220), "Mu`awiya was not one of those who chose to start the war. He was one of the people who most desired that there should be no fighting. Others were more eager to fight than him." People have different statements about the battle of Siffin. Some of them say that both of them were correct mujtahids as is stated by many of the people of kalam, fiqh, and hadith among those who say that every mujtahid is correct. They said that they were both mujtahids. This is the statement of many of the Ash`arites, the Karamiyya, the fuqaha’ and others. It is the statement of many of the people of Abu Hanifa, ash-Shafi`i, Ahmad and others.
The Karamiyya said that each was a correct Imam and that it is permitted that there be two Imams when there is a need for that. Some of them say that one of them was correct and does not specify who that was. This is the statement of one group. Some of them say that `Ali alone was correct and Mu`awiya was a mujtahid who erred as is stated by some groups of the people of kalam and the fuqaha’ of the people of the four schools. These three statements are related by Abu `Abdullah Hamid, one of the people of Imam Ahmad and other people. They include those who say it would have been better for both groups not to fight. Fighting was a fight of civil war. It was neither obligatory nor recommended. Not fighting would have been better for both groups, even though `Ali was more entitled to the truth. This is the statement of Ahmad and most of the people of hadith and most of the Imams of the fuqaha’. It is the statement of the great Companions and those who followed them. That is the statement of `Imran b. Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them. He forbade the sale of weapons for that fight. He said, "It is selling arms in civil strife." That is the statement of Zayd, Usama b. Zayd, Muhammad b. Maslama, Ibn `Umar, Sa`d b. Abi Waqqas and most of the rest of the first predecessors among the Muhajirun and the Ansar, may Allah be pleased with them. This is why it is the school of the people of the Sunna not to discuss the quarrels between the Companions.
Their virtues are confirmed and their love and friendship are obligatory. Do not pay any attention to a single letter of any of the riwayats which occur in the history books, except for what we mentioned. They are all false.
The Disaster of Arbitration
The people were arbitrary about the arbitration. They said what did not please Allah regarding it. When you look at it with the eye of virtue without belonging to any sect, you will see that it is lack of the deen which causes foolishness in the books of most people and firm ignorance in a few of them.
That which is sound is what the Imams like Khalifa B. Khayyat....
250. He is Imam Abu `Amr Khalifa b. Khayyat al-`Usfuri al-Basri, one of the vessels of knowledge and one of the shaykhs of Imam al-Bukhari. Ibn `Aki said about him, "He is honest in reports, truthful, one of the sure transmitters of the sunna." He died in 240 A.H.
and ad-Daraqutni....
251. He is Imam Abu’l-Hasan `Ali b. `Umar ad-Daraqutni (306-385). In addition to his majesty in hadith, he was one of the Imams of the Shafi`i fuqaha. He had pre-eminence in literature and the transmission of poetry. He came from Baghdad to Egypt to help Ibn Hanzaba, Kafur’s wazir, to compose his ‘Musnad’. The wazir went to great efforts to show esteem for him. `Abdu’l-Ghani b. Sa`id said, "The best people in discussion on the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are three:
`Ali b. al-Madini in his time, Musa b. Harun in his time, and ad-Daraqutni in his time." ....related. When the Iraqi group went out with one hundred while the Syrians had seventy or ninety thousand. They camped by the Euphrates at Siffin. They fought at the beginning of the day, on Tuesday, at the water. The people of Iraq gained possession of the water.
252. The fighting over the water was not serious. `Amr b. al-`As said on that day, "It is not just that we should have water while they are thirsty." Those in the Syrian army who pretended to stop the Iraqis from the water wanted to remind them that they had stopped the water form the Amir al-Mu’minin `Uthman during the calamity in his khalifate, even though he was the one who purchased the Well of Ruma from his own money so that his brother muslims would have water from it. After they shared in the water, they had some skirmishes in the month of Dhu’l-Hijja, 36 A.H. Then there was a truce in Muharram, 37 A.H. The battles took place in Safar as the author will show. Then they met on Wednesday, the 23rd of Safar and Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
253. It was called the Night of Harir (Spitting). People fought until morning on that night. The people of Syria raised copies of the Qur`an and they called for a truce. They all parted with the stipulation that each party should entrust its business to one man and the two men would judge between the two groups who both claimed to be right. Abu Musa....
254. The last commission of Abu Musa was when he was governor over Kufa. `Ali’s herald came to urge the Kufans to take up arms and join `Ali’s army in preparation for the fight they were anticipating with the people of the Camel in Basra and then with the helpers of Mu`awiya in Syria. Abu Musa was apprehensive that the blood of muslims would be shed at the instigation of fanatics. He reminded the community of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, of what their Prophet had said about civil strife: "The one who sits in it is better than the one who stands’" Al-Ashtar left him speaking to the people in the mosque about the hadith of the Prophet. Then he hurried to the House of the Amirate and took possession of it. When Abu Musa returned there al-Ashtar prevented him from entering. He told him, "Retire from your rule." Abu Musa left them and chose to remain in a village called `Urd, far from the seditions and bloodshed. When the people had had their fill of bloodshed and were satisfied that Abu Musa had given the muslims good counsel when he forbade them to fight, they asked `Ali to make him the Iraqi representative in the arbitration because the state which he had called for was a state full of well-being. They sent for Abu Musa and brought him from his retirement.
....came from `Ali and `Amr b. Al-`As from Mu`awiya. Abu Musa was a man of taqwa, culture, fiqh and knowledge, as we made clear in the ‘Book of the Lamp of the Murids’. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent him to the Yemen with Mu`adh. `Umar appointed him and praised him for understanding.
255. He specified him in his famous letter on judgment, its adab, and its rules. The pitiful "historical" group claim that he was dull-witted, weak in opinion and misled by words and that Ibn al-`As had shrewdness and skill and they made examples about his shrewdness to support the corruption they intended. Certain ignorant people followed each other in that and they wrote stories about it. Other companions were cleverer and shrewder than he was. They based that on the fact that when `Amr deceived Abu Musa in the story of the arbitration, he became known for shrewdness and cunning. They said, "When they met at Adhruh at Duma al-Jandal,
256. Adhruh: a village in the precincts of ash-Shara which falls in the area between the lands of Eastern Jordan and Saudi Arabia in the southern ends of the Syrian desert. and negotiated, they agreed that both men would be deposed.
257. It is true that when something is not well expressed and it is mixed with the defects of distortion, this can lead to presuming what is not true, to be true. Then disputes arise as to its judgment. The incident of arbitration and the words of those who falsify is part of that, when they say that Abu Musa and `Amr agreed to depose both men and that Abu Musa deposed both of them while `Amr was content to depose `Ali rather than Mu`awiya. The root of the distortion comes from the falsifiers ignoring the fact that Mu`awiya was not a khalif at that time, nor did he claim to be khalif, that `Amr would need to depose him. Abu Musa and `Amr agreed to entrust the business of the khalifate over the muslims to those who were still alive among the notable Companions with whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was pleased when he died. The two arbiters agreed on that. That did not extend to Mu`awiya because he was not a khalif nor did he fight to get the khalifate. He was seeking to have the hadd-punishment carried out on those who had participated in the murder of `Uthman. When there was arbitration on the Imamate of the muslims and the two judges agreed to leave its investigation to the great Companions and their notable men, the arbitration of lands under his command which Mu`awiya administered by his authority, there was no arbitration regarding it with either deceit or cunning.
Neither foolishness nor heedlessness disturbed it. There would have been a place for cunning or negligence if `Amr had announced in the result of the arbitration that he had appointed Mu`awiya to rule the believers and be the khalif of the muslims. This is not what `Amr announced nor did Mu`awiya lay any claim to that. No one in the past thirteen centuries had said that. The khalifate of Mu`awiya only began after he had made peace with al-Hasan b. `Ali. It ended with al-Hasan giving homage to Mu`awiya. From that day on, Mu`awiya was called the Amir al-Mu’minin. `Amr did not trick Abu Musa and did not deceive him because he did not give Mu`awiya anything new and he only confirmed what Abu Musa confirmed in the arbitration. He did not go beyond what they both agreed on. Iraq and the Hijaz and what was near to them remained under the authority of the one who had authority over them before. Syria and what was next to it remained under the authority of the one under whose authority it had been before. The Imamate was connected to what would arise from the agreement of the notable Companions. What wrong action did `Amr have in any of that? Whoever wants to understand events differently than how they occurred will understand them however he wishes.
However, they are clear and evident for all who see them as they really are. `Amr said to Abu Musa, ‘Make your statement first.’ He went and said, ‘I have looked and `Ali is removed from command. Let the muslims look for themselves as I remove this sword from my neck (or from my shoulder).’ He took it off his neck and placed it on the ground. `Amr went and placed his sword on the ground. He said, ‘I have looked, and I confirm Mu`awiya in command....
258. What command? If it is continuation in the administration of the land which was already under his authority, the command was effective for both Mu`awiya and `Ali. Each of them remained in control of what he administered. If what was meant by the command was the general Imamate and the Amirate of the believers, Mu`awiya was not an Imam (i.e. the Khalif) so that `Amr could confirm him as such. We made this clear in the previous section. This is the point of the falsification which the historians of the forged lies mock. They mock all their readers and make them imagine that there were two khalifs or two Amirs over the believers and that the agreement between the two arbiters was to depose both of them and that Abu Musa deposed the two khalifs according to the agreement and that `Amr deposed one of them and let the other remain khalif, contrary to the agreement. This is all a lie, a falsehood, and slander. That which `Amr did was the same as Abu Musa did. He did not differ from him in a single jot or iota. The command of the Imamate and the Khalifate or Amirate of the believers remained subject to the investigation of the Companions so that they could investigate what they thought on it, when they wanted and how they wanted. If the two groups had not demanded that they both carry out this task, they would not have turned to it, nor shown any opinion about it. If the position of Abu Musa in this great historical event was one of foolishness and failure, that would have been a disgrace for him in history.
The generations after him understood his position to be one of his glories for which Allah wrote success and correctness for him. Dhu’r-Rimma the poet said, when he addressed his grandson Bilal b. Abi Burda b. Abi Musa, Your father repaired the deen which people wanted later when the house of the deen was cut off The rope of the deen was strong in the days of Adhruh. He repelled wars which pollinated the barren. ....as I put this sword of mine firmly on my neck.’ and he girded it on. Abu Musa objected. `Amr said, ‘This is how we agreed.’ Everyone broke up in disagreement."
Protection
Qadi Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "All of these are clear lies. None of it took place. It is something about which the innovators report and the historians wrote for the kings. That was inherited by the people of insolence and public acts of rebellion against Allah and people of Innovations."
259. Islamic history did not begin to be written down except after the Umayyads had gone and states had been established whose men did not like to talk about the glories of that past and the good qualities of its people. The recording of Islamic history was undertaken by three groups: one group who sought ease of life and good fortune by drawing near to those who hated the Umayyads by what they wrote and compiled. Another group thought that devotions would only be obtained and one would only draw near to Allah by tarnishing the reputation of Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman and all the Banu `Abdu Shams. A third group of the people of justice and the deen like at-Tabari, Ibn `Asakir, Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Kathir thought that part of justice was to compile the reports of the historians from all the schools and positions like Lut b. Yahya, the burning Shi`i and Sayf b. `Umar al-Iraqi al-Mu’tazili. Perhaps some of them were compelled to do that when they tried to please all of the areas whose power and position were felt. Most of them furnished the names of the transmitters of the reports which they quoted, so that the researcher would have some insight into every report and would be able to investigate the state of its transmitter.
This legacy reached us, not in as much as it is our history, but because that provided ample material for study and research from which our history could be derived. This is possible and easy when it is undertaken by someone who looks at the places of strength and weakness in these sources. The shrewd person can use it to discover the reality of what really happened and separate it from that which did not take place and content himself with the sound sources of the reports without the later additions to them.
Reference to the books of the Sunna and the observations of the Imams of the community will make this task easy. Now is the time for us to carry out this duty which we have been very slow to undertake. The first person to wake up in our time to the machinations foisted off into the history of the Umayyads was the great Indian scholar, Shaykh Shibli an-Na’mani in his criticism of the books of Jurji Zaydan. Then the shrewd people among these who are fair began to study the realities. The truth became evident to them and other people. It was luminous and clear. When this effort continued in the path of the truth, it was not long until the muslims’ understanding of their history changed and they perceived the secrets of the miracles which had taken place in their past. The firm reliable Imams related that, when they met to look into this matter in a noble group of people which included Ibn `Umar and his like, `Amr dismissed Mu`awiya.
260. i.e. by his confirmation with Abu Musa that the Imamate of the muslims should be left for the notable Companions to investigate.
Ad-Daraqutni mentioned with his isnad to Hudayn b. al-Mundhir,
261. Ad-Daraqutni said: Ibrahim b. Human related to us from Abu Yusuf al-Falusi who is Ya’qub b. `Abdu’r-Rahman b. Jarir from al-Aswad b. Shayban from `Abdullah b. Mudarib from Husayn b. al-Mundhir (and Hudayn was one of `Ali’s close friends who fought with him.) "When `Amr retired Mu`awiya, Hudayn b. al-Mundhir came and struck his tent near the tent of Mu`awiya. This news reached Mu`awiya. He sent to him and said, ‘I have heard such-andsuch from `Amr. Go and see what is the case about what I have heard.’
262. i.e. his removing `Ali and Mu`awiya and his entrusting the matter to the great Companions. I came to him and said, ‘Tell me about the business which you and Abu Musa undertook. How did you act in it?’ He said, ‘The people said what they said about that, but by Allah, the business is not as they have stated.’
263. i.e. neither was dismissed nor appointed. The business was left to the notable Companions. I said to Abu Musa, ‘What do you think about this business ?’ He said, ‘I think that it rests with some people with whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was pleased when he died.’ I said, ‘Where will you put me and Mu`awiya?’ He said, ‘If you are asked to help, then you can help. If there is no need for both of you, then the command of Allah has no use for you.’ He said, ‘It was that which Mu`awiya himself wove from it.’ I came to him and told him, (i.e. Hudayn came to Mu`awiya and told him that) that what he had heard was exactly as he had heard it. He sent to Abu’l-A'war Adh-Dhawkani.
264. He is Abu’l-A’war as-Sulami (Dhakwan is a tribe of Sulaym). His name is `Amr b. Sufyan. He was one of the great generals of Mu`awiya. In the Battle of Siffin, al-Ashtar tried to get him to come out. He refused to do that because he did not think that al-Ashtar was one of his peers. He had sent him to his horses. He went out with his horse at a gallop, saying, ‘Where is the enemy of Allah? Where is this libertine?’ Abu Yusuf said,
265. i.e. al-Falusi. The transmitter of this report from al-Aswad to Shayban from `Abdullah b. Mudarib from Hudayn. ‘I think that he said, "He meant to kill him."’ `Amr went out to a horse under his tent and jumped naked on its back. He went out at a gallop towards the tent of Mu`awiya while he was saying, ‘The grumbling she-camel is sometimes milked in the bowl.’
266. Ad-Dajur: The camel which grumbles and is distressed when it is milked. "The grumbling she-camel which grumbles can be milked to fill the vessel." They used it about the person of ill temper from whom compassion and kindness can be obtained. The miser can have property gotten from him. Mu`awiya said, ‘Yes. Sometimes she is light to the milker, smashes his nose and overturns his vessel.’"
267. "His hand was light with the arrows," i.e. active. "Rabidh" is light-footed in walking and quick-fingered in action. So-and-so with Rabidhat is someone who makes many mistakes in his words.
Ad-Daraqutni mentioned (with a proper isnad)....
268. He said, "Muhammad b. `Abdullah b. Ibrahim and Da’laj b. Ahmad related to us from Muhammad b. Ahmad b. an-Nadr from Mu`awiya b. `Amr from Za`ida from `Abdullah b. `Umar from Rib’i, etc. Rib’i was the son of Hirash al-`Abasi, Abu Maryam al-Kufi. ....from Rib’i from Abu Musa that `Amr b. al-`As said, "By Allah, if Abu Bakr and `Umar left this property while anything of it was lawful for them, we would overstep and fault their opinion. By Allah, they are not to be overstepped nor are they imperfect in opinion. If they are two men for whom this property, which we got after them, was forbidden, then we are destroyed. Oh Allah, the mistake has only come from us."
269. The author quoted this report to indicate `Amr’s scrupulousness, his self-examination and his calling attention to the path of the Salaf. This was the beginning and end of the story. They turned from seducers and restrained those who howled. They left the path of those who broke agreements and went to the sunan of the guided. They restrained the tongues from those who went first to the deen. Beware, lest you be one of those destroyed on the Day of Rising because of the arguments of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Those arguments destroyed men who were among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Leave what has passed alone. Allah had carried out what He decreed. Be serious in whatever you cling to regarding belief and action. Do not let your tongue discuss what does not concern you with every dog that barks or who takes the deen lightly, Allah will not let the action of the one who does well go to waste. May Allah have mercy on ar-Rabi’ b. Khaytham,
270. He is one of the students of `Abdullah b. Mas`ud, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and `Amr b. Maymun. Imam ash-Sha`bi, Ibrahim an-Nakh`i, and Abu Burda took from him. Ibn Mas`ud said to him, "If the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had seen you, he would have loved you." He died in 64 A.H. when he was told, "Al-Husayn is slain!" He said, "Did they kill him?" They said, "Yes." He said, "Oh Allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the visible! You will judge between Your slaves in that about which they disagree (39:46)." He did not add anything to that. This is intellect and the deen. It is restraining oneself from the states of the muslims and submission to the Lord of the worlds.
Disaster - Its Argument
"If it is said that that can be in meanings which are obscure, there is no confusion in all these matters because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned that `Ali should be appointed after him. He said, "In relation to me, you are as Harun was to Musa, although there is no prophet after me."
271. In ‘The Book of the Raids’ from the ‘Sahih’ of al-Bukhari (book 65, chap. 78, pt. 5, p. 129) and in ‘The Virtues of the Companions’ from the ‘Sahih’ of Muslim (book 44, chap. 31, pt. 7, p. 120) from the hadith of Sa`d b. Abi Waqqas that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went to Tabuk and appointed `Ali after him. He said, "Do you leave me with the women and children?" He said, "Are you not content to be in relation to me as Harun was to Musa, although there is no prophet after me?" Look at the argument on this hadith in 1157 A.H. between Sayyid `Abdullah b. al-Husayn as-Suwaydi and al-Mala’ Bashi `Ali, the greatest shaykh of the Shi`ite scholars and their mujtahids in the time of Nadirshah on ‘The Book of the Conference of an-Najaf’ (pp.25-27), published by as-Salafiyya. He said, "Oh Allah, be a friend to the one who is his friend and an enemy to the one who is his enemy and help the one who helps him and disappoint the one who disappoints him.
272. In the ‘Musnad’ of Ahmad (1:84, 88, 118, 119, 152, first edition, no. 641, 670, 950, 961, 131, 1310 and in 4:281, 368, 370, 372, first edition and 5:347, 366, 370, 419, first edition). Look at the tafsir of al-Hasan al-Muthanna b. al-Hasan as Sibt b. `Ali b. Abi Talib on this hadith, pp. 185-186. The discussion of the author regarding the two hadith will come later. After this, the stubborn person cannot resist. Abu Bakr took it unjustly and sat in other than his proper place. The `Umar followed him in this encroachment. Then he hoped that `Umar would have the good fortune to return to the truth. He made the state obscure and made it a council in order to curtail opposition by what he had heard from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Then Ibn `Awf used a trick until he took it from him (i.e. `Ali) to `Uthman. When `Uthman was killed since he had scaled the khalifate and the judgments of the Shari`a., the command went to `Ali by the divine prophetic truth. Those who contracted it seized it and those who offered him allegiance disobeyed him and the one who attacked him broke his contract. The people of Syria turned to deviation in the deen, rather they turned to kufr."
273. All of these sections are part of the ravings and bias of those who brought about this calamity. The author has answered in the following ‘Protection’ to refute their foolishness. However, the area of discussion is large and consequently the discussion misses the position of the people of Syria in these seditions which occurred in Islam. You saw earlier what Ibn al-Kiwa, one of the leaders of the seditions, said when he was describing his likes in the largest cities: "As for the people of events in the people of Syria, they are the people who most obey their guide and rebel against the one who makes them err." If the people of the events in Syria were like that, based on the testimony of one of the leaders of the sedition, then the Amir al-Mu`minin `Ali testified for the people of well-being and belief among them as Ibn Kathir quoted in ‘The Beginning and the End’ (7:20) from `Abdu’r-Rahman b. Human as-San’ani, one of the notable Imams and huffaz, from his shaykh Ma`mar b. Rashi al-Basri who was a notable man, from az-Zuhri, the Sunna recorder and shaykh of the Imams, that `Abdullah b. Safwan al-Jumali said that a man from Siffin said, "Oh Allah, curse the people of Syria!" `Ali said to him, "Do not curse the people of Syria. The Abdal are there. The Abdal are there. The Abdal are there."
This hadith is related from another direction (marfu’) to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Abu Idris al-Khawlani, who is one of the notable bearers of the Sunna and the Shari`a, and one of the shaykhs of al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Sirin, Makhul and their likes states that Abu’d-Darda’ said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "While I was sleeping, I saw the Book taken from under my head. I thought that it was being taken. My eye followed it and it went to Syria. When the sedition occurs, belief will be in Syria." This hadith is related from other Companions than Abu’d-Darda’: Abu Umama and `Abdullah b. `Amr b. al-`As. There is a comparison between the people of Syria and those who fought them. We quoted the report of al-A`mash (325:7) from Ibn Kathir from `Amr b. Murra b. `Abdullah b. al-Harith from Zuhayr b. al-Arqam.
He said, "`Ali addressed us on that Friday." He said, "I was told that a man came to the Yemen. By Allah, I reckon that those people will overcome you and they will only overcome you because of your rebellion against your Imam and their obedience to their Imam and by your deceit and their trust, by your corruption and their correctness. I sent so-and-so and he deceived me and was treacherous. I sent so-and-so and he deceived me and was treacherous and sent money to Mu`awiya. If one of you were to be entrusted with a glass, he would take its handle. Oh Allah, I am bored with them and they are bored with me. I dislike them and they dislike me. Oh Allah, give me rest from them and give them rest from me." This is how `Ali described his army and his party. Its opposite in virtues was the description of the people of Syria who were forced to take a position of warfare against his group. After `Ali had described the people of Syria with obedience, trustworthiness and correctness, this bomb only blows up in the faces of those who described them with disbelief and corruption in the deen. This is the reality of their position.
274. i.e. The reality of the school of the Rafidites and the enemies of the Companions. All that were with them were kafirs,
275. After `Ali and some of his family, they excepted a few of them: Salman al-Farisi, Abu Dharr, al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad, `Ammar b. Yasir, Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman, Abu’l-Haytham b. at-Tihan, Sahl b. Hanif, `Ubada b. as-Samit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khuzayna b. Thabit and Abu Sa`id al-Khudri. Some of the Shi`a thought that the good ones among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were even less in number than these men.
because part of their school is to consider people to be kafirs because of wrong actions.
276. Part of their school is that `Ali and eleven of his family were protected from error and that they are the source of the Shari`a. They accept the Shari`a-making which the transmitters ascribe to them provided these men have the precondition of partisanship and friendship to the Imams, even if people recognised that they had things incompatible with truthfulness or what contradicts what is known to be necessarily part of the deen. Similarly, this group, called the Imamiyya, said that every rebel with a great wrong action is a kafir,
277. Proven by the great wrong action in their opinion. The muslims do not corroborate that. (according to the Qadariyya.)
278. Ibn Taymiyya said in ‘The Path of the Sunna’ (2:24), "The early Shi`a agreed to affirm the Decree and the attributes. The rejection of the Decree became known among them when they joined the Mu`tazilities in the Buwayyid government."
There was no one more rebellious than the above-mentioned rebels,
279. They are Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman.
and those who helped them in their business. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were the people with the greatest eagerness for this world and those with the least defence of the deen and the most destructive of them for the Pillars and the Shari`a.
280. In spite of that, you will find people among those who are affiliated to the al-Azhar and the Sunna who are friendly to the idea of bringing the schools closer, which was founded in Cairo after the Second World War, and console themselves by devoting their lives to the disagreement between them and to the mutual exchange of taqiyya employed by those who are based on it
272. In the ‘Musnad’ of Ahmad (1:84, 88, 118, 119, 152, first edition, no. 641, 670, 950, 961, 131, 1310 and in 4:281, 368, 370, 372, first edition and 5:347, 366, 370, 419, first edition). Look at the tafsir of al-Hasan al-Muthanna b. al-Hasan as Sibt b. `Ali b. Abi Talib on this hadith, pp. 185-186. The discussion of the author regarding the two hadith will come later. After this, the stubborn person cannot resist. Abu Bakr took it unjustly and sat in other than his proper place. The `Umar followed him in this encroachment. Then he hoped that `Umar would have the good fortune to return to the truth. He made the state obscure and made it a council in order to curtail opposition by what he had heard from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Then Ibn `Awf used a trick until he took it from him (i.e. `Ali) to `Uthman. When `Uthman was killed since he had scaled the khalifate and the judgments of the Shari`a., the command went to `Ali by the divine prophetic truth. Those who contracted it seized it and those who offered him allegiance disobeyed him and the one who attacked him broke his contract. The people of Syria turned to deviation in the deen, rather they turned to kufr."
273. All of these sections are part of the ravings and bias of those who brought about this calamity. The author has answered in the following ‘Protection’ to refute their foolishness. However, the area of discussion is large and consequently the discussion misses the position of the people of Syria in these seditions which occurred in Islam. You saw earlier what Ibn al-Kiwa, one of the leaders of the seditions, said when he was describing his likes in the largest cities: "As for the people of events in the people of Syria, they are the people who most obey their guide and rebel against the one who makes them err." If the people of the events in Syria were like that, based on the testimony of one of the leaders of the sedition, then the Amir al-Mu`minin `Ali testified for the people of well-being and belief among them as Ibn Kathir quoted in ‘The Beginning and the End’ (7:20) from `Abdu’r-Rahman b. Human as-San’ani, one of the notable Imams and huffaz, from his shaykh Ma`mar b. Rashi al-Basri who was a notable man, from az-Zuhri, the Sunna recorder and shaykh of the Imams, that `Abdullah b. Safwan al-Jumali said that a man from Siffin said, "Oh Allah, curse the people of Syria!" `Ali said to him, "Do not curse the people of Syria. The Abdal are there. The Abdal are there. The Abdal are there."
This hadith is related from another direction (marfu’) to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Abu Idris al-Khawlani, who is one of the notable bearers of the Sunna and the Shari`a, and one of the shaykhs of al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Sirin, Makhul and their likes states that Abu’d-Darda’ said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "While I was sleeping, I saw the Book taken from under my head. I thought that it was being taken. My eye followed it and it went to Syria. When the sedition occurs, belief will be in Syria." This hadith is related from other Companions than Abu’d-Darda’: Abu Umama and `Abdullah b. `Amr b. al-`As. There is a comparison between the people of Syria and those who fought them. We quoted the report of al-A`mash (325:7) from Ibn Kathir from `Amr b. Murra b. `Abdullah b. al-Harith from Zuhayr b. al-Arqam.
He said, "`Ali addressed us on that Friday." He said, "I was told that a man came to the Yemen. By Allah, I reckon that those people will overcome you and they will only overcome you because of your rebellion against your Imam and their obedience to their Imam and by your deceit and their trust, by your corruption and their correctness. I sent so-and-so and he deceived me and was treacherous. I sent so-and-so and he deceived me and was treacherous and sent money to Mu`awiya. If one of you were to be entrusted with a glass, he would take its handle. Oh Allah, I am bored with them and they are bored with me. I dislike them and they dislike me. Oh Allah, give me rest from them and give them rest from me." This is how `Ali described his army and his party. Its opposite in virtues was the description of the people of Syria who were forced to take a position of warfare against his group. After `Ali had described the people of Syria with obedience, trustworthiness and correctness, this bomb only blows up in the faces of those who described them with disbelief and corruption in the deen. This is the reality of their position.
274. i.e. The reality of the school of the Rafidites and the enemies of the Companions. All that were with them were kafirs,
275. After `Ali and some of his family, they excepted a few of them: Salman al-Farisi, Abu Dharr, al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad, `Ammar b. Yasir, Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman, Abu’l-Haytham b. at-Tihan, Sahl b. Hanif, `Ubada b. as-Samit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khuzayna b. Thabit and Abu Sa`id al-Khudri. Some of the Shi`a thought that the good ones among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were even less in number than these men.
because part of their school is to consider people to be kafirs because of wrong actions.
276. Part of their school is that `Ali and eleven of his family were protected from error and that they are the source of the Shari`a. They accept the Shari`a-making which the transmitters ascribe to them provided these men have the precondition of partisanship and friendship to the Imams, even if people recognised that they had things incompatible with truthfulness or what contradicts what is known to be necessarily part of the deen. Similarly, this group, called the Imamiyya, said that every rebel with a great wrong action is a kafir,
277. Proven by the great wrong action in their opinion. The muslims do not corroborate that. (according to the Qadariyya.)
278. Ibn Taymiyya said in ‘The Path of the Sunna’ (2:24), "The early Shi`a agreed to affirm the Decree and the attributes. The rejection of the Decree became known among them when they joined the Mu`tazilities in the Buwayyid government."
There was no one more rebellious than the above-mentioned rebels,
279. They are Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman.
and those who helped them in their business. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were the people with the greatest eagerness for this world and those with the least defence of the deen and the most destructive of them for the Pillars and the Shari`a.
280. In spite of that, you will find people among those who are affiliated to the al-Azhar and the Sunna who are friendly to the idea of bringing the schools closer, which was founded in Cairo after the Second World War, and console themselves by devoting their lives to the disagreement between them and to the mutual exchange of taqiyya employed by those who are based on it
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